Family announces burial arrangement for EFCC operative who died by suspected suicide

The family of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operative who died by suspected suicide on Monday has announced the programme for the burial of his remains.

An electronic copy of the poster announcing the burial arrangement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday identifies the deceased as 40-year-old John Obomeile Yamah. He was born on 6 December 1983, according to the poster.

This is the first time the deceased will be publicly identified by his name, age and photo since the news of his death broke on Wednesday.

The deceased’s identity, including his name and date of birth, has been missing from media reports about his death.

Media reports, including by PREMIUM TIMES, had only identified him as a member of the Course 5 of the EFCC Academy.

On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Yamah committed suicide on Monday.

Our reporter further gathered on Thursday that the deceased shot himself with a gun at his residence in Abuja on Monday.

Apart from his name and age, now known by this newspaper, much of his details are still undisclosed by his family and the EFCC.

Burial

According to the obituary poster seen by this newspaper, Mr Yamah’s burial arrangements will commence on Wednesday,10 July, with a service of songs at 4 p.m. at his residence in Abuja.

At 10 a.m. on the following day, Friday, 11 July, the internment of his remains will take place at Gudu Cemetery in Apo, Abuja.

Information about the death and circumstances leading to it remains scanty.

Apart from confirming the incident to a media platform through its spokesperson on Wednesday, the EFCC has not released an official statement about it. There has been no official statement from the family either.

The EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed the incident with PR Nigeria on Wednesday and said an investigation was underway to “ascertain the circumstances surrounding the sad incident.”

Mr Oyewale said the commission would refrain from issuing any further statements, including releasing the details of the deceased operative’s name, until after the investigation.

However, PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the deceased left a suicide note, details of which have not been confirmed by any official source as of Thursday evening.

This is not the first time an EFCC operative has been suspected to have committed suicide.

In 2019, the Edo State Police Command initiated an investigation into the suspected suicidal death of Williams Oyibogare, an EFCC operative.

Mr Oyibogare was suspected of having committed suicide as bottles of a pesticide brand, Sniper, were discovered in his home in the Giwa Amu area, along the Airport Road in Benin, the Edo State capital.

The police also reportedly recovered a purported suicide note found on his phone.

Then-EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed Mr Oyibogare’s death but stated that the commission was awaiting the completion of police investigation before making any further comments.

Deceased as 40-year-old John Obomeile Yamah